5 lessons from a strategy sprint

5 lessons from a strategy sprint

Digital strategy must become more agile. So taking a cue from the Google Ventures sprint model, I recently ran a strategy sprint with a key client.

The goal was to create a Minimum Viable Strategy, after which the UX team would prototype a Minimum Viable Product. Over a week, we held four workshops, breaking down the key elements of digital strategy into bite-sized chunks. By Day 5, we had a finished blueprint to guide the UX/dev team as they began their own sprint week.

These were the lessons learned:

1. Collaboration = decisionsOur client was fully committed to the collaborative process. This was crucial – being able to lay out the big business issues, and openly discuss them, meant decisions were made quickly and we could move on.

2. Have key stakeholders (literally) at the tableAll key stakeholders were present at every workshop. They made a significant contribution, and their participation ensured agreement on the final approach.

3. Limits are goodThere’s a lot to be said for a time limit. It forced us to focus, with no room for diversions or fluff. The resulting strategy was tight and on point.

4. Turn thinking in to doingThey say a strategy never survives contact with reality. So why not test it asap? A few days after the sprint, the strategy had been tested by real users with UX prototypes. It held up well, and though we’ll make some refinements, it was a great start.

5. Involve UXThere’s now so much overlap between strategy and UX, it’s vital to have them in the room, particularly for the audience and content pieces. Plus it meant our UX team were familiar with the strategic approach as they began brainstorming how it could be realised.